Steve Newall: Flicks.co.nz editor ahead of Pulp returning to New Zealand

Following the release of their 2025 album, More, Pulp are set to play a long-awaited gig in New Zealand.

This visit will be the band's first in over 13 years, and they'll be playing Auckland's Spark Arena next weekend.

Flicks.co.nz editor Steve Newall explained further.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sunday Session podcast with Francesca Rudkin
from News Talks EDB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
It is time to talking entertainment and I'm joined now
by Steve Newell and of course Pulp. They were performing
this little number here. Common People are hitting Auckland next weekend.

Speaker 3 (00:22):
This week, so I think next Sunday morning I'll have
that song reverberating in my head. I'm sure. I'm so
excited about the show. Pulp haven't played New Zealand since
Do You Want to Feel Old? Since nineteen ninety eight
North Short events that I saw that gig You want
to Feel Older? They were formed in nineteen seventy eight.
That doesn't feel like they're that old of a band

(00:42):
because I didn't really break through to the late nineties
after like a massive Glastonbury performance in ninety five. That
a really long hiatus. Jervis Cocker kept doing stuff.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
I think you knew them in the mid nineties. I
think it was when I kind of kicked onto gear
with them.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Different Class was their massive, massive album and their follow
up album This Is Hardcore are really good as well.
I saw them on their Runion tour. I think it
was twenty eleven in Melbourne, and of that era, of
all the bands that kind of came out around that time,
that's the best show that I saw of all those
comeback performances. So I can't recommend going to Spark next Saturday.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Is gonna be very What have they just released an
album recently or is this just another sort of a
reunion to her?

Speaker 3 (01:17):
No, no, they kind of. They got teased when Charlie
xy X finished her Brat tour and at the end
of her performance she sort of flashed up like this
av presentation, maybe it's time to make room for and
then showcased all these artists and flash on the screen Cronenberg,
Summer Turnstile, Summer Ethyl Caine, Summer Ethil Kaine, who just

(01:37):
played two fantastic So that shows loved Front and Pulp
somewhere and it was like, hold on, Pulp, what now?
And they released a new album last year, the first
to like twenty four years or something, and have resumed heuring. Look,
they're all a little bit older, but he's still he is. Geez, thanks,

(01:59):
but Jarvis is still an incredible storyteller, performer and just
the right amount of his sles I think, and has
kind of clever, sexy lyrics.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
Okay, for about two years now, we've been getting all
hostile and full of angst about Emerald Finelle's new film
that she was going to do an adaptation of Bronte's
Wuthering Heights. And we both saw the film this week
on Wednesday, and I don't know about you, but it
was kind of exactly what I expected. I didn't think
it was terrible. I didn't think it was brilliant, was

(02:31):
lovely to look at.

Speaker 3 (02:33):
I'm going to shock.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
I'm thinking that all that anks might have just been
a waste of time.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Big surprise. I'm not what you'd call a Bronte devote.
I'm not super familiar with what Weathering Heights outside of
Kate Bush. And so when I went to see Wuthering
Heights in quote Mark, so I think she's sort of
buying herself. And to note that I can't speak to
the fidelity to the source material. And there's been some
discussion about the casting of Jacob A. Laudie demographically not correct,

(03:02):
but based on what I went in to see, very
und prepared for the film, I quite enjoyed this very stylish,
kind of gothic take on a classic. I didn't feel
it sort of interrogated stuff a heck of a lot.
But the performance is really strong. It looks awesome. It's
not too wiz band like what I kind of think of,
like whiz Bang baz Lermini like, it's not ultra contemporary feeling,

(03:24):
not Eu Romeo and Juliet No totally and that's all
cool and everything, But I think a bit like Saltburn
Emerald Fanelle's eye is really really good, and the palette
of things that she chooses to emulate as a filmmaker
are really good films, like she's lifting from some really
good visualist that ex here. It looks fifties, sixties, seventies

(03:44):
a lot of the time.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
I always think she lets people do their best work.
She lets her costume makers, her aunt director, the production
design as a cinematographers let she lets them do their
best work right.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
And that's very true of the cast here. The lead
performances are excellent, particularly because they're pretty unlikable characters. And
to bring up Charlie again, there's a really great score
this Charlie sex Is just released a full length album
soundtrack to the film Again, kind of Gothic tinged. I
think that's probably the word that I keep coming back
to about the film is gothic. One thing that won't

(04:18):
be in Bronte's novel, I would imagine from two centuries ago,
sort of some themes of sort of BDSM sexuality and
sort of dom sub type relationship, power and sex are
quite intermingled in this story, and I guess they would
have been a couple of centuries ago in a different
way and Mook sort of class based way. But here
I think it's an interesting addition. It does sort of

(04:39):
help to explain why two characters who seek control over
one another sort of orbit in this in this semi
romantic way. It's kind of hot in places. Not gonna deny,
but it's no. It's no sleeves fast, and it's not gratuitous. No,
and it's not gonna I don't think it's gonna unduly
by the too many pearl clutches this one. But it

(05:01):
might not be. It might not be your NaN's Wuthering Heights.
Let's put it that way though.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Thank you so much, Steve. I look forward to your
review of Pulp next week.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
Enjoy the Gig for more from the Sunday session with
Francesca Rudkin. Listen live to news Talks it Be from
nine am Sunday, or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio